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EDC Grand Master

Assuming none of the things are illegal in your area, and basing this opinion on talking to a few cops about similar ideas...there is a readily apparent difference between a normal guy wearing armor and carryng a rifle and a gang banger loaded for war. And LEO use of force guidelines don't let them shoot somebody because they look scary.

Colors go a long way. All black is a really bad idea. Black and red might be worse. Red and Blue are to be avoided. Bandanas are to be avoided. Masks are to be avoided. And unless there's a gas or dust cloud, if you have a respirator, it absolutely needs to be concealed in a bag. American flags are a good idea. Gadsden flags are a terrible idea. And if you come across a cop, step 1 is to drop the weapons onto slings or on the ground and put your hands up, then wait for them to lead the encounter.

I also had an interesting experience (actually a couple) of cops rolling up on me & friends holding rifles to respond to a call. A couple times when I worked at the gun shop, the Ops guy saw something happen on the security cameras (once, someone tried to steal gas out of my car) or one of us went out after work to realize our car had been broken into, which happened a few times...it got to the point that half the employees left their cars unlocked and empty so bad guys could look through them and figure out there was litereally nothing in it except maybe a pack of cigarettes and move on without causing damage.

We usually called the cops to report it, and the responding officer always rolled up to at least 2 guys holding rifles. The time I really remember, it was me and the ops guy. We both just dropped our guns on their slings and put our hands up, and the cop pretty much immediately said to put our hands down because we didn't look like threats. We didn't have to disarm, and nothing bad happened.

Cops, for the most part, aren't dumb. Think about it from their point of view before you do any of these things. And if you don't want to take the risk, don't take the risk.

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Reason why I have 2 flag patches on my bag. I agree, cops aren't stupid and they do have a lot of situational experience that many of us don't have.

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EDC Master

Reason why I have 2 flag patches on my bag. I agree, cops aren't stupid and they do have a lot of situational experience that many of us don't have.

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That's the thing they're good at.

I don't remember which thread it was in, so I can't quote myself. But someone said something about me teaching cops a thing or two about shooting. And, frankly, having watched a hundred or so local PD guys shoot...it's true. It's also true for the vast majority of the people who shoot USPSA or IDPA or Bullseye or just about any other even quarter-way practical competition. The vast majority of cops are not great at shooting. But the vast majority of them also never fire their service weapon in the line of duty. It's not a big part of their job.

As far as how quickly and well they gather and process information, how well they deal with and manage rampant chaos....I'm kind of in awe.

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EDC Master

I don't remember which thread it was in, so I can't quote myself. But someone said something about me teaching cops a thing or two about shooting. And, frankly, having watched a hundred or so local PD guys shoot...it's true. It's also true for the vast majority of the people who shoot USPSA or IDPA or Bullseye or just about any other even quarter-way practical competition. The vast majority of cops are not great at shooting. But the vast majority of them also never fire their service weapon in the line of duty. It's not a big part of their job.

As far as how quickly and well they gather and process information, how well they deal with and manage rampant chaos....I'm kind of in awe.

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my cousin, who is a licensed instructor and is teaching me, has told me things about how bad most cops are at shooting. he's told me how most of them would come in thinking they were the best shooter and wound up barely hitting the target with any type accuracy.

he likes that i was able to hit the target when i first started, but he wanted me to start going for better accuracy. and he was telling me how a lot of the cops he taught would get upset when he would try to teach them better accuracy and how they would act like they knew more than him. even though he was an on-the-street officer for over 20 years and an instructor for most of those years.

when the time comes, we're going to start working on rifle drills as well. he's a certified rifle instructor, too.

plus i get to do it all for free . gotta love having that family connection.

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EDC Master

Oh yeah. Family/friend connections and trading other expertise for training is awesome.

Where I used to work, when PD qualification season came around, the training calendar was full with cops trying to get up to where they were capable of qualifying. I shot their couse cold one day and was annoyed at a 290/300...because I dropped one of the 10yd headshots from the ocular/nasal cavity into the jaw....and on that one string, any "miss" is a zero. I probably should have shot it slower...I had a shit ton of time, but I was shooting it at what I considered full speed.